Embrace YOUR Seasons
Our bodies don’t know it's a new calendar year. We don’t just unwrap a new calendar on the first of the year and excitedly skip into new goals, new habits, new lists, and new ways of being like a fairy tale character singing through the woods and chatting it up with the animals.
We need a minute to work up to that. But this ‘New Year, New You’ energy is exhausting so don’t fall for it. Seriously. Don’t fall for it. That’s not how our bodies, minds, or cycles work. We have our own rhythm. We have our own seasons and timing. Feel into it. Lean into what makes sense for YOU.
For some, winter is a time of quiet and calm. They lean into that quiet and calm by doing some hibernating rather than creating. It’s all part of a plan to focus energy in anticipation of spring.
Embrace Personal Seasons New Year Resolutions: Lean into Your Rhythm
Alternatively, for me personally, as the daughter of a teacher, my new year has always started in August with the beginning of school. It’s a time to reset after the summer and focus on the next season of learning.
This sense of new beginning will be unique for all of us. We are not calendars, so feel into what works best for you and your environment.
And what about New Year’s Resolutions? Those are up to you, too. If you want to do them, great. Here is some advice to make them successful.
Oftentimes resolutions are a setup for failure for two main reasons:
The first is that we tend to go all-in on all of them at the same time. This is not how we build habits. You know this. I know this. Yet we all do this every year.
The second reason is that we don’t create a plan to achieve these resolutions. We decide that we are going to do 3-6 different things and go all-in on them at once. This just isn’t practical and is a quick trip to burnout on self-care, personal development, and professional growth. So why do we sign up for that? There is a better way…
According to Megan Winkler, an anti-burnout expert, having a successful relationship with your New Year’s Resolutions takes a bit of reflection.
“I recommend sitting down and looking back on all you accomplished in the previous year. It always seems that by December, we’ve run out of steam and it feels like we’ve spent more time celebrating and eating than doing anything productive. That’s simply not the case, and we need the reminder.
Pull your previous year’s calendar up and review all the things that happened. Make a list in your journal to commemorate the progress and the wins. Honor the losses too - life is about the both/and so you can be both happy about an event and wish something went differently.
Then, write down what you want to accomplish this upcoming year. Be specific. Don’t worry about the timing yet. Once you have your list, take a few minutes to sit with it. Eliminate anything that feels repetitive and see if you can “bundle” these goals up into smaller groups. For instance, moving more during the day and eating better can be bundled together.
Set an intention for each goal and a time frame. You may want to hit the ground running in January with some income goals, which means that you may not have as much time to focus on your meal planning goals. Those might be better suited for the change of seasons when the fresh, seasonal food availability increases.
And as Jennifer mentioned above, lean into your own seasons and timing. Just because companies are trying to sell us the “new year, new you” vibe in January doesn’t mean we have to buy it!”
So, if you’re a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, take a moment and reflect on the previous year and adjust your resolutions accordingly and then make a plan for them. You can also do this reflective accounting monthly so it’s easier to look back and see how far you’ve come. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll do that now and make monthly celebrations a New Year’s Resolution.
Some questions to journal about:
How are you going to walk through this season of the (Gregorian Calendar) new year?
When do you feel primed for new beginnings?
Do you need to take time to hibernate? How can you make the most of that time?
What has worked for you in the past with resolutions? What can you improve this time?
What routines and practices can you put into place so that you can better adhere to your own seasons rather than relying on the calendar and society to influence you?
TLDR: Discover the importance of embracing your personal seasons instead of succumbing to the pressure of the "New Year, New You" mantra. Understand that your body and mind have their own rhythm and cycles, and it's essential to lean into what makes sense for you. Reflect on the significance of the new year based on your unique experiences and preferences. Learn valuable insights on making New Year's Resolutions successful by avoiding common pitfalls and creating a thoughtful plan tailored to your goals and aspirations.
Jennifer Major is an Intuitive Life Organizer who helps heart-centered women to get organized once and for all, and solve generational clutter so that you can weather the chaos of life more easily and do more of what you want! Her mission is to help you have your own back through supportive systems built around your unique values and needs. Because she believes we all deserve clutter-free spaces and more time for naps and money.
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